Gionee’s latest campaign for its Marathon M5 series is a unique attempt to connect with consumers by crowd-sourcing ideas for the campaign. Arvind R Vohra, CEO & MD, Gionee India talks about the campaign, Gionee’s re-branding and its expectations from the Indian smartphone market
By Samarpita Banerjee
Gionee has launched its Marathon M5 series with a new campaign. What was the thought behind the campaign?
The thought behind the campaign is to crowd-source ideas for the Marathon M5 Plus TVC in an effort to make a connect with the audience and understand their perspective of having good battery phones.
The latest campaign is a teaser for a larger campaign where Gionee plans to crowd-source ideas from consumers. What are you trying to achieve through this campaign?
A smartphone has become a necessity for the urban consumer. All of us have gone through this experience of thinking a thousand things about a person’s whereabouts and condition when his/her phone is switched off. Maybe he has a hang-over, maybe her car is giving her trouble, maybe he is mugged, maybe he is late to office because he is in an interview for another job somewhere... and the list goes on. The M5 Plus campaign leverages this powerful human insight to own the battery proposition in the most relatable way. With the tagline ‘Battery Band Imagination Shuru’, this is a teaser campaign to build hype and excitement with the consumers around the importance of phone battery. This is being done by encouraging the consumers to submit their share of anecdotes of things people imagine about a person’s whereabouts and condition when his/her phone is switched off.
Gionee had also recently launched a new logo. How has the re-branding worked out for the brand?
The smiling face, which is the new logo, expresses an attitude that Gionee believes in – a desire to create happiness for our consumers. The brightened orange colour signifies an energetic, passionate and warm image and the company’s new tagline, Make Smiles, invites customers to engage with Gionee and include the brand in the delightful moments of their lives. The brand got an overwhelming response from consumers and the new logo has been appreciated by all. The re-branding got us visibility and great brand recall. Gionee M5 Plus was the first smartphone that carried the new smiling logo and it was a great success in the market.
Gionee has also launched its latest offering, M6. How do you call it the ‘world’s safest phone’?
The M6 and M6+ were announced recently at a global event in Beijing. Both the offerings from Gionee, part of the already popular Marathon series, have been redefined to provide the best consumer experience in the changing times with a clear focus on providing the best power back-up in its segment. The devices are much faster, lighter, safer and with the new optimization and software upgrade, it will be a consumer delight.
How are Gionee smartphones different from other smartphones in the market?
In a short span of time, Gionee has created many benchmarks in the corporate and product front and has been able to win the trust of consumers. Gionee has successfully changed the perception of consumers about Chinese brands and has been able to reshape the Indian smartphone market. The journey of Gionee in the last four years has been exciting. We have achieved milestones and set benchmarks on various fronts. We are trend-setters in launching smartphones with the best camera, style and battery, introducing impeccable designs and advanced technology. Gionee was one of the early movers to give the market chic and stylish devices and the brand was quick to understand that today, a smartphone represents its user’s taste, personality, and even identity and adapted a new approach with a focus on design. We have always been the first to get something new and innovative like the rotating camera, slimmest phone and battery, to name a few. Apart from introducing a slew of handsets, Gionee has also been focussing on enhancing the customer experience and has been ramping up its customer service centres and retail outlets.
How have associations with sports tournaments worked for the brand?
Gionee has always been a believer in nurturing young talents, which is why we do a number of associations in the sports field, to connect better with the youth. It has always worked for us and we will continue doing such associations in future.
How do you plan to increase your market-share in India?
From the time we set foot in India, we have been doing great business. For Gionee, products are the real hero and we have been introducing industry firsts in every segment, be it style, camera, battery… We have been steadily going up the ladder and have had decent progress in the last few years. Currently, we have a market-share of 5% in India and target to increase it in the coming years.
What were the challenges you faced in the Indian market while launching?
The initial challenge that we faced was changing the perception of consumers towards a Chinese brand. Gionee was very clear about its agenda and that it had to get rid of the Chinese stigma in Indian consumers’ minds. The company knew it had to deliver nothing less than the best every time. Se it took innovation to a new level in the way it approached the Indian market and brought in a host of devices which were at par with some of the leading international brands. Innovation in product, distribution, marketing, PR and digital, led the brand to have a recall and acceptance much higher than expected in this short period of time.
How important is the Indian smartphone market for foreign companies?
India is one of the fastest growing markets when it comes to adoption of smartphones and has recently acquired the second spot in the list of the world’s largest smartphone markets. Every brand wants to enter India and establish their market-share since the market is growing and has a lot of potential. According to the latest Counterpoint Reports, India has been posting a healthy growth rate of 23% year-on-year and this shows the potential the country holds for brands and manufacturers.
Can you tell us about some consumer trends that you have observed in India?
Affordable and mid-segment smartphones have been an all-time favourite with Indian consumers. Packing your smartphone with the latest technology at rational price points definitely is a hit with consumers. Also, of late, consumers are interested in big battery smartphones that can run for longer hours. Gionee has been quick in understanding these consumer needs and has directed its focus to big battery smartphones. Our Marathon series offers the best in class battery smartphones which are not only high on battery power but also high on looks, offering a complete package to our consumers.
What is your broad marketing strategy for the next few years?
India is an important market for Gionee and it has the potential of becoming the next manufacturing hub. Considering this fact and that Gionee has also started the process of manufacturing in India, our investments in the country go much beyond marketing. All our exercise and investments, be it in manufacturing, our re-branding exercise, our associations with various platforms, are from a long term perspective and the returns are also going to be in the long run.
Do you employ a different marketing strategy when it comes to Tier II and Tier III markets?
We design our market strategies keeping to the requirements of a particular market. We focus on the channels that would work best in a Tier II and Tier III market and invest in them. We also promote our smartphones keeping in mind the region, the people and their demand.
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